Making Fern a first class mage is such a clever move. They get a first class warrior and a zeroth class mage for free whenever they summon the first class mage for a mission.

I did not foresee Ubel and Land coming back into the story. Though the pair are pretty popular characters; Land was 12th and Ubel was 13th in the manga popularity poll. Also, with the mage exam arc in the middle of airing right now, it is a prime opportunity to capitalize on the Ubel X Land atmosphere to have them flirt for half the chapter. All that said, they are great. I loved this bit:

Page 6	Two Panels Later

I think it is interesting to learn more about Land. Ubel likes to talk about how the magic that somebody specializes in reflects their personality, and that seems to hold true with Land. He desperately did not want to leave his grandmother’s side for her final years. So, in order to continue his life as a mage and do other things while he stayed with his grandmother, his cloning magic became exceptionally skillful. I am guessing that Serie is the one that told Ubel where to actually find the real Land.

Serie and Frieren always have an oil/water nature, so I am curious as to why Serie made sure to invite Fern to this mission. She must have known that inviting Fern meant that Frieren was also going to be involved. I feel real bad for whoever tries to take on the collective mage forces that have been assembled for this mission (plus Serie herself).